Friday, July 24, 2009

"It's more serious to illegally download a compact disc than it is to walk into a store and steal one"

What's the most serious crime you can think of? It's 'murder' according to the Bureau of Statistics, which puts it at number 1 of a new list of 154 crimes ranked in order of "perceived seriousness".

That's higher than did the Ten Commandments which placed it in the middle of the pack, below not honouring God or respecting parents.

The Bureau has drawn up the list to assist it in categorising offenders found guilty of multiple crimes. Where for instance one offence involves both blackmail and assault, it needs to know which is the most serious in order to list the "principal offence".

Released for the first time to the public as a stand-along publication the National Offence Index provides an unintentional guide to modern morals.

"Procuring or committing an illegal abortion" ranks at number 43, one above "property damage by fire or explosion"...
"Theft of intellectual property" comes in at 73, one above actual physical theft from a retail premises, suggesting that its more serious to illegally download a compact disc than it is to walk into a store and steal one.

The Bureau has been guided by the severity of sentences handed down by courts and also by "consultation with practitioner and advisory groups".

The advisors and courts apparently regard "graffiti" as more serious than air pollution and a good deal more serious than vilifying of inciting racial hatred."

Prostitution ranks fairly low on the scale at 136, just above resisting arrest and driving without a license, and below trespass and the use of offensive language.

The use of illicit drugs also ranks low at number 125, but the import, export, manufacture and selling of those drugs ranks highly at numbers 14 through to 22.

Two offences in the top ten are new entrants. Sexual servitude and child pornography weren't in the list when it was first produced in 2002. Other new entrants include "stalking" at number 31 and forgery of documents at number 61.

Offences that appear to have become more serious since the start of the decade include driving under ht influence of alcohol, up from number 89 to 37, and negligent acts "endangering persons," up from 91 to 39.

Pedestrian and traffic offences remain the least serious, joined by public order offences and consuming "legal substances in regulated spaces".

The ABS says list has no legal standing in its own right and will be used to prepare its crime and justice publications.